Before You were mine Carol Ann Duffy

I’m ten years away from the corner you laugh on with your pals, Maggie McGeeney and Jean Duff. Having fun with friends Mother addressed directly First person narrative Duffy wrote this poem after seeing a photo of mum, called Marilyn, 10 years before giving birth to her.

The three of you bend from the waist, holding each other, or your knees, and shriek at the pavement. Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn. Marilyn Monroe – iconic image of skirt blowing up in the film The Seven Year Itch Present tense Showing closeness and friendship 1950s style dress

I’m not here yet. The thought of me doesn’t occur in the ballroom with the thousand eyes, the fizzy, movie tomorrows the right walk home could bring. Reminder – jealousy? could find love like in the movies – Monroe again. glitterball

I knew you would dance like that. Before you were mine, your Ma stands at the close with a hiding for the late one. You reckon it’s worth it. Possessiveness of title Perhaps a little jealousy of not being there – making assumptions about her mother Rebellion of youth Colloquialisms, element of realism

The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh? I remember my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics, strong relationship – baby changes everything Artefact from a past age – her mother’s youth Now in the picture, trying to be part of her mother’s past, playing at dress-up.

and now your ghost clatters toward me over George Square till I see you, clear as scent, under the tree, with its lights, and whose small bites on your neck, sweetheart? Ghost linking with the previous line of relic Sound of the red heels Youthful mother in an old haunt, and a previous life with different love in it Scent is invisible – like a memory

Cha cha cha! You’d teach me the steps on the way home from Mass, stamping stars from the wrong pavement. Tango rhythm – the dance of passion Interesting juxtaposition of the fun of dancing and the solemnity of Mass – a link to previous rebelliousness? Allusion to the pavement of stars in Hollywood Boulevard

Even then I wanted the bold girl winking in Portobello, somewhere in Scotland, before I was born. That glamorous love lasts where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine. Strong desire of the daughter Famous road for glamour, and fashion in London, especially in the ‘swinging sixties’ Organised, structured stanzas, like the pictures in a photo album as you turn the pages. Lovely image of graceful, beautiful mother